MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. Women can substantially boost Ukraine’s military reserves amid difficulties with staffing the country’s armed forces and an advertisement campaign to aid in this matter should be launched, a study by the Texty.org.ua analytical portal said.
"If the war drags out for years <...>, calling up women may significantly improve the situation," the study said. Its authors calculated that out of 5.6 mln women aged 18-60, 46% have children. "Therefore, we can say that declaring mobilization for women without children will allow to replenish reserves by 3 mln people," they concluded.
That said, the analysts propose to engage women in combat and in order to inspire them to join the military service "it is necessary to organize a relevant ad campaign."
A general mobilization was announced in Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended several times since then, with the authorities doing everything possible so that draft age men cannot evade military service. In particular, Ukrainian men are prohibited from traveling abroad and call-up orders are being handed out at government offices when people seek public services, as well as on the streets and at any place where large numbers of people gather. Nevertheless, in December 2023, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that the military command had submitted a request to call up another 500,000 people. Following this, the government began working on a draft bill to institute new, more draconian mobilization rules, which was passed in the first reading by the Verkhovna Rada on February 7.